− | Locomotion in nematodes involves somatic muscles that are present below the cuticle. They are obliquely striate unlike mammalian muscles and have dense bodies as opposed to Z disks. | + | Locomotion in nematodes involves somatic muscles that are present below the cuticle and hypodermis. They are attached to the hypodermis and separated into four sections by hypodermal cords. They are obliquely striated unlike mammalian muscles and have dense bodies as opposed to Z disks. Two types of muscle arrangement occur in nematodes, platymyarian in small worms and coelomyarian in larger worms. During locomotion the muscles are used to apply pressure laterally to the cuticle, this pressure is opposed by the high hydrostatic pressure of the coelom and causes dorso-ventral bending. The nematode moves in a sinusoidal manner. |